2021 Copa Colombia
# 2021 Copa Colombia

The 2021 Copa Colombia, officially the Copa BetPlay Dimayor 2021 for sponsorship reasons, was the 19th edition of the Copa Colombia, the national cup competition for clubs of DIMAYOR. The tournament was contested by 35 teams and began on 10 March 2021. It ended on 24 November 2021, with Atlético Nacional winning their fifth title in the competition after defeating Deportivo Pereira in the double-legged final series by a 5–1 aggregate score. As champions, Atlético Nacional qualified for the 2022 Copa Libertadores.

Independiente Medellín were the defending champions, having won the competition in its two most recent editions. They were eliminated by Deportivo Cali in the round of 16.

## Format

The format for the 2021 Copa Colombia was the same one used for the 2018 and 2020 editions, with the competition being played in a single-elimination format in its entirety, without any group stages. The 16 Categoría Primera B teams entered the competition in the first stage, being drawn into eight ties. After two stages, four Primera B teams qualified for the third stage, along with ten Categoría Primera A teams that did not enter international competition in the 2021 season, which entered the cup at that stage. Finally, in the round of 16, the seven third stage winners were joined by the four Copa Libertadores qualifiers (América de Cali, Santa Fe, Junior, and Atlético Nacional), the four Copa Sudamericana qualifiers (Deportes Tolima, La Equidad, Deportivo Pasto, and Deportivo Cali), and Águilas Doradas as the best Primera A team that did not qualify for international competition in 2021, which entered the competition at this point. Unlike the previous edition, in which ties from the round of 16 onwards were played as single legs due to the schedule disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in this edition all rounds were played on a double-legged basis.

## Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows:

| Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
| - | - | - | - |
| First stage | 2 March 2021 | 10–11 and 18 March 2021 | 17–18 and 25 March 2021 |
| Second stage | 2 March 2021 | 14–15 April 2021 | 21–22 April 2021 |
| Third stage | 2 March 2021 | 28–29 July and 4 August 2021 | 4–5 and 18 August 2021 |
| Round of 16 | 19 August 2021 | 25–26 August 2021 | 1–2 September 2021 |
| Quarter-finals | 19 August 2021 | 8–9 September 2021 | 15–16 September 2021 |
| Semi-finals | 19 August 2021 | 6 October 2021 | 20–21 October 2021 |
| Finals | 19 August 2021 | 10 November 2021 | 24 November 2021 |

## First stage

The first stage was played by the 16 Categoría Primera B clubs, eight of which were seeded in the ties according to their placement in the 2020 season aggregate table. The remaining Primera B clubs were drawn into each tie. The seeded clubs (Team 2) hosted the second leg.

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Real Cartagena (2) | 5–3 | Atlético Huila (2) | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| Real Santander (2) | 3–2 | Cortuluá (2) | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Barranquilla (2) | 2–1 | Deportes Quindío (2) | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Boca Juniors (2) | 2–1 | Unión Magdalena (2) | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Orsomarso (2) | 0–1 | Valledupar (2) | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Tigres (2) | 2–1 | Bogotá (2) | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Fortaleza (2) | 1–2 | Leones (2) | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Atlético (2) | 0–4 | Llaneros (2) | 0–0 | 0–4 |

## Second stage

The second stage was played by the eight first stage winners. In each tie, the clubs with the best performance in the first stage (Team 2) hosted the second leg.

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Llaneros (2) | 1–0 | Real Cartagena (2) | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Leones (2) | 1–5 | Real Santander (2) | 1–3 | 0–2 |
| Tigres (2) | 1–4 | Barranquilla (2) | 1–1 | 0–3 |
| Valledupar (2) | 3–4 | Boca Juniors (2) | 2–0 | 1–4 |

## Third stage

The third stage was played by the four second stage winners and 10 Categoría Primera A clubs that did not qualify for international competition, which were seeded in the ties according to their placement in the 2020 season aggregate table. The four second stage winners as well as the best four teams according to the 2020 Primera A aggregate table hosted the second leg.

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Boyacá Chicó (2) | 3–4 | Llaneros (2) | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Patriotas (1) | 3–3 (5–4 p) | Real Santander (2) | 1–0 | 2–3 |
| Jaguares (1) | 3–2 | Barranquilla (2) | 3–0 | 0–2 |
| Deportivo Pereira (1) | 2–0 | Boca Juniors (2) | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Alianza Petrolera (1) | 2–1 | Millonarios (1) | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Independiente Medellín (1) | 4–2 | Once Caldas (1) | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Atlético Bucaramanga (1) | 3–2 | Envigado (1) | 1–1 | 2–1 |

## Final stages

Each tie in the knockout stage was played in a home-and-away two-legged format. In each tie, the team which has the better overall record up to that stage hosted the second leg, except for the round of 16 where the third stage winners hosted the second leg. The teams entering the competition at this stage were the ones that qualified for the 2021 Copa Libertadores and 2021 Copa Sudamericana, as well as the best team in the Primera A aggregate table that did not qualify for either competition, which were drawn into each of the eight ties. In case of a tie on aggregate score, extra time was not played and the winner was decided in a penalty shoot-out.

### Bracket

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| América de Cali (p) | 0 | 1 | 1 (6) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Jaguares | 0 | 1 | 1 (5) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Jaguares | 0 | 1 | 1 (5) | América de Cali | 2 | 0 | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | Deportivo Cali | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| Deportivo Cali | 2 | 3 | 5 | Deportivo Cali | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| Independiente Medellín | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Independiente Medellín | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | Deportivo Cali | 2 | 0 | 2 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | Atlético Nacional | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | |
| Santa Fe | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | | Atlético Nacional | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | |
| Atlético Bucaramanga | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Atlético Bucaramanga | 0 | 0 | 0 | Santa Fe | 2 | 0 | 2 (1) | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | Atlético Nacional (p) | 1 | 1 | 2 (3) | | | | | | | | | |
| Atlético Nacional | 3 | 2 | 5 | Atlético Nacional (p) | 1 | 1 | 2 (3) | | | | | | | | | |
| Patriotas | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Patriotas | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | Atlético Nacional | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Deportivo Pereira | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| La Equidad | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Deportivo Pereira | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Llaneros | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Llaneros | 0 | 0 | 0 | La Equidad | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | Deportes Tolima | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| Deportes Tolima | 1 | 0 | 1 | Deportes Tolima | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| Águilas Doradas | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Águilas Doradas | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | Deportes Tolima | 0 | 1 | 1 (4) | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | Deportivo Pereira (p) | 0 | 1 | 1 (5) | | | | | |
| Deportivo Pasto | 3 | 3 | 6 | | | | | | | | | Deportivo Pereira (p) | 0 | 1 | 1 (5) | | | | | |
| Alianza Petrolera | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Alianza Petrolera | 1 | 2 | 3 | Deportivo Pasto | 3 | 1 | 4 (1) | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | Deportivo Pereira (p) | 2 | 2 | 4 (2) | | | | | | | | | |
| Junior | 4 | 0 | 4 | Deportivo Pereira (p) | 2 | 2 | 4 (2) | | | | | | | | | |
| Deportivo Pereira | 3 | 2 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

### Round of 16

The teams qualifying from the third stage played the second leg at home.

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| La Equidad (1) | 1–0 | Llaneros (2) | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Atlético Nacional (1) | 5–1 | Patriotas (1) | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| América de Cali (1) | 1–1 (6–5 p) | Jaguares (1) | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Junior (1) | 4–5 | Deportivo Pereira (1) | 4–3 | 0–2 |
| Deportivo Pasto (1) | 6–3 | Alianza Petrolera (1) | 3–1 | 3–2 |
| Deportivo Cali (1) | 5–3 | Independiente Medellín (1) | 2–2 | 3–1 |
| Santa Fe (1) | 2–0 | Atlético Bucaramanga (1) | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Deportes Tolima (1) | 1–0 | Águilas Doradas (1) | 1–0 | 0–0 |

### Quarter-finals

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| La Equidad (1) | 0–2 | Deportes Tolima (1) | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Santa Fe (1) | 2–2 (1–3 p) | Atlético Nacional (1) | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| América de Cali (1) | 2–3 | Deportivo Cali (1) | 2–2 | 0–1 |
| Deportivo Pasto (1) | 4–4 (1–2 p) | Deportivo Pereira (1) | 3–2 | 1–2 |

### Semi-finals

| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Deportes Tolima (1) | 1–1 (4–5 p) | Deportivo Pereira (1) | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Deportivo Cali (1) | 2–3 | Atlético Nacional (1) | 2–2 | 0–1 |

### Finals

Atlético Nacional won 5–1 on aggregate.

